


Welsh Cakes

by out_there



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-08
Updated: 2008-03-08
Packaged: 2017-10-15 04:52:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/157217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/out_there/pseuds/out_there
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Welsh cakes," Jack says as Ianto hands him his second expresso of the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welsh Cakes

"Welsh cakes," Jack says as Ianto hands him his second expresso of the day.

Ianto blinks, searching for a context. "You wanted Welsh cakes for breakfast?" he guesses uncertainly. Jack doesn't usually eat breakfast with the rest of them but that's because he gets hungry early. Ianto's learned to get used to waking up alone with the smell of hot toast coming from his kitchen.

"Not for breakfast." Jack smiles. "As a nickname."

"For what?" Ianto asks cautiously, hoping this isn't a sexual euphemism. Wondering what it could be a euphemism for if it was.

"For you."

"No."

"You really don't like it?"

"Not for use in public, not for use in private," Ianto says carefully. With Jack, sometimes you need to make things very, very clear. "Preferably, not to be used even inside your skull."

"What about cupca--"

"Definitely not."

***

"Darling?" Jack asks, when Ianto returns with the third espresso.

Jack's persistence is amusing -- almost endearing -- but Ianto tries hard to hide that thought. "No."

"Pet?"

"Not unless I'm wearing a collar."

Jack grins at the thought, eyes going a little unfocused, and Ianto uses the distraction to slip out of Jack's office.

***

With the fourth espresso, Jack asks, "What about honey?"

"In tea, yes. In bed, yes. As a nickname?" Ianto asks and Jack nods his head. "No."

"You're sweet enough to make it work." Jack grins, all soft-spoken charm. "Sugar?"

"No."

"Sweets? Sweetheart? Sweetie?"

"No, no," Ianto says, picking up coffee cups, "and no way in hell."

Leaning back in his chair, Jack stares up at the ceiling. The light falls upon the line of his jaw, casting shadows over the tendons of his neck. (Ianto suspect Jack knows this.) After a moment of deliberation, Jack suggests, "Sweetness?"

"Not unless my birth certificate says Sweetness N. Light." Ianto thinks about what he said and then thinks about who he said it to. "Don't fool around with the General Register Office database. They weren't pleased last time they caught us changing their records."

Carrying the cups out with him, Ianto just hopes he said it sternly enough for Jack to listen.

***

"How about--"

"No."

Jack pouts, then crosses his arms to complete the petulant look. "You didn't even hear the suggestion."

"I'm not a fan of nicknames. 'Ianto' has worked perfectly well for the last twenty-five years. I don't see why I need a new name now."

"It's not a need." Jack shrugs. "But I like the idea of having private nickname, having part of you that's only mine."

"You don't need a nickname for that, Jack." Turning away, Ianto scans across the hub. Tosh is at her desk, busily typing, and Gwen and Owen are nowhere to be seen. So he plants his hands on Jack's desk, leans over fast, and catches Jack's mouth in a soft kiss. Unsurprisingly, Jack tastes of coffee. "I don't let just anyone use my toaster."

Jack laughs as Ianto pulls back and straightens his tie back into place. "So no nicknames?"

"No."

"Not even love?"

Ianto pauses at the door and gives Jack the firmest stare he can muster. "Not as a nickname."


End file.
